'Revolutionary' job system launched

The Government has launched a new service aimed at helping unemployed people find work which ministers said would "revolutionise" the search for jobs.

Published: 12:43, Thu, December 20, 2012

Iain Duncan Smith said the new Universal Jobsmatch jobs system is 'brilliant' [PA]

The so-called Universal Jobmatch would enable jobseekers to input their details into a computer system and then receive suitable vacancies, or advice on what skills they needed to improve their chances of finding work.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith described the initiative as "spectacular", giving instant information on jobs and continuing to search for suitable vacancies when new jobs were posted.

The system will be fully launched in the new year following a trial period, with 370,000 companies already using it to advertise jobs.

Online recruitment firm Monster will manage the site, which will be compulsory for jobseekers to use next year.

Mr Duncan Smith said the system was "brilliant", adding: "It will be accessible in internet cafes, libraries and on personal computers.

"It is a real revolution in the way we match future employers with would-be employees. Your CV will do the work for you, even when you are sleeping, and notify you that a suitable job has become available."

The minister said jobseekers would no longer have to use touch-screens in jobcentres, or wait for a print-out of jobs which had probably already been taken up.

Mr Duncan Smith said it would be the biggest website in the UK, and arguably the most advanced.

He revealed that some bogus employers had already tried to access the system to gain information but had been blocked.